Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. The industry connects to not only natural beauty and heritage of a country, but also entails services and activities like accommodation, transport, commerce, entertainment, and hospitality. Being a beautiful country from South Asia, Bangladesh has her own richness that tourists across the world love a lot. Therefore, the country had developeding a widespread tourism industry including accommodation and transportation.

And that’s what we are going to talk about today.

In this article, we’re about to have a quick glance at many prospects of tourism in Bangladesh. You will have an idea of the most attractive tourist’s spot in the country. In addition, some significant aspects of gross statistical valuation, traveling tips etc. are going to take place in the discussion.

So, let’s start off-

Tourism in Bangladesh- A Glimpse from the History

Tourism of a country depends on its history, natural properties, archeology, culture, and heritage. On that note, Bangladesh can easily claim to have world’s one of the most beautiful blend of tourist attraction.

The land was founded at around 300BC in a deltaic region of South Asia. If we have a look at the history, the land had been adopting a mixture of culture from both Asian and Western regions. As it was the reign of British Conquer, the country hadn’t been only with her own culture. That has maybe resulted in such variation in the cultural beauty that we see nowadays.

Climate and landscape of the Country

Tourism connects to natural prospects. And what comes very next is the climate. So, before heading into the core of this article, we would like you to have a basic idea of the country’s climate and landscape.

Climate of Bangladesh
In terms of climate, Bangladesh has a monsoon climate of sub-tropical nature. There are six seasons in the country, which can be three, in a broad sense- Winter, Summer and Rainy Season.
Throughout the year, the average temperature is around 9C to 29C in winter and 21C to 34C in the summertime. The weather pattern of the country is pretty similar to Gulf Coast to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana of USA.

Landscape of Bangladesh
Bangladesh has a primarily low plain land of 144000 square kilometers. As it’s located in the bottom zone of Himalayas, the country has numerous deltas of large rivers that are sourced from the Himalayas.

The land is flat and fertile, which had helped her to grow significant of forestry and wild ecosystem. Apart from the flatlands, there are some hilly tracts (more on the following section) at Chittagong, Sylhet, and some other places. The highest point of the country is 1231 meters from the sea(Bijoy).

9 Must-Visit Places in Bangladesh

What makes it very obvious in this discussion about tourism in Bangladesh is the significant places of tourist attraction. However, as the term ‘Tourist Attraction” is a distinct term, we are going to explain 9 best places to visit according to popularity.

So, here is the list-

The Mangrove Forest of Sundarbans
Sundarbans Mangrove forest is the most renowned tourist spot, even internationally. It’s officially the largest Mangrove forest in the world. UNESCO had recognized it as a World Heritage Site. The forest is located on the country borders of both Bangladesh and India. However, most of the forest is in the borders of Bangladesh.
The forest is a deep and safe home of the Royal Bengal Tiger and much other wildlife. The environmental appeal of Sundarbans is so tranquilizing and surely, visiting it would be one of the lifetime experiences of anyone.

Cox’s Bazaar Sea Beach
Cos’s bazar is the most beautiful city, port and tourist’s spot in the land. The unbroken length of Bay of Bengal is 155 kilometers, which is largest natural sea beach in the world.

The name derives from Captain Hiram Cox of British East India Company. But now, the city has its own signature of glory, natural beauty, and attraction for every nature lover.

Although we have listed Sundarbans as the #1 tourist spot, Cox’s Bazaar is the most popular one. Because of easy and affordable transport and hospitality, this had become the best place to spend holidays.

Srimangal at Sylhet
If there is something called the Tea Capital of Bangladesh, it would surely be Srimangal, the widespread tea estate of Sylhet. Sylhet is located in the Eastern part of the country.

The lush green tea estates in Srimangal is something where you will find enormous green beauty. Cycling through these tea gardens can be the best thing you can ever do. Also, you can have access to two other beautiful places like Hamham waterfalls and Lawachara National part. Most of the country’s tea industry is based on Srimangal. So, it’s an asset to the country’s economic process as well.

Hill Tracts at Chittagong
Right next to Cox’s Bazar, we have the green and wild hilly tracts of Chittagong. In fact, cox bazar is a part of the greater Chittagong division.
The hilly tracks and terrains are so naturally beautiful that it can beat with any other hilly terrains in the world. If you are an adventure lover and up to hiking, camping, or wildlife exploring, Chittagong Hilly Tracts are maybe the right place to hang out with friends.

Also, this is one of those places where you can meet different locals of tribal and get to know their lifestyles. Also, one of the most beautiful rivers Sangu is located in the locality.

Rangamati Hill Tracts
After Chittagong, this is the second most beautiful hill tracts of the country. Although, there are pretty many differences in hill tract types of these two.
One core reason for this place’s natural attraction is its tribal hilly terrains full of wildlife adventure. Also, Kaptai Lake, which is not so far from there, has added to its tourist appeal.

There are a number of adventures that you can do in Rangamati. Hill tracking or boat riding through Kaptai lake is the best of them all. Also, you can visit the handicraft market (by tribal) nearby and have an experience of country’s finest handmade crafts and art pieces.

Paharpur Buddhist Monasteries
Now let’s take to the North West part of the country. As you know, Bangladesh had been a [place of religious and traditional heritage. For ages, people of different religions, races, and cultures had been in the country. As an example, Paharpur Buddhist Monasteries is one ancient symbol of Buddhist culture and religion.

However, this little place had been listed as World Heritage site by UNESCO. To be specific, the most attractive monastery of this region is the famous Somapuri Manabhihara. It’s one of the largest Buddhist monasteries of the 8th Century. Monks from almost all over the country used to gather here for higher education.

This is a place of education, religious tradition, and enormous natural beauty.

Saint Martin’s Island
Remember Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach? It’s the #2 ranked tourist spot on the list. Now the island we’re talking about, it’s right by the sea beach. In fact, it’s a part of Cox’s Bazar the district. But because of its enormous tourist’s attraction, this had been recognized by its own name.

Saint’s Martin Island is a coral island of Bay of Bengal. If you’re in love with the sea, this is the place you shouldn’t miss in Bangladesh. No matter it’s a day trip of three days hangout, you’ll definitely love the quest and blue sea life. The place has several resorts for safe and sound tourist’s housing.

This is the #7th ranked place in the list.

Madhabkunda Waterfall
When it comes to waterfalls, Bangladesh has a lot of them for tourists. But the biggest and the most beautiful one of them is the Madhabkunda Waterfall. If I talk about the location, it’s in Moulovibazar, Sylhet.

Apart from the beautiful waterfall, you can also taste the natural touch from Sylhet’s traditional tea gardens and hilly tracts. A beautiful landscape had been created in the lemon and rubber plantations just near to Madhabkunda.

Bisanakandi Landscape
Apart from hills, sea beach, forests and tea gardens, Bisanakandi is the country’s one of the most beautiful landscapes in the country. I’m located near the Bangladesh-India border in Sylhet.

The landscape area contains gardens, hills and waterfalls, and a perfect blend of all of these natural beauties. You can have a complete view of the natural beauty of this place throughout the whole year, except in winter.

These 9 places had been our favorite list of tourist attractions and heritage points of beautiful Bangladesh. But there are some other places, who should have definitively make a place in the list.

However, as the list was limited within 9, here are the mention of honors-

Mentions of Honor

Jaflong tourist’s spot

Ratargul freshwater swamp

Satchchari national part

Lawacherra rainforest

Patenga sea beach

Chittagong port

Himchori waterfall

Moinamonti and Shalbon Bihar

Khagrachori wild

Bandarban chimbuk hill

Ahsan Manjeel of Dhaka

National parliament building

Kuakata panoramic sea beach

A Statistical Insight

Like every other country in the world, Bangladesh has also its tourism management organization named Bangladesh parjatan Corporation(BPC). Since the country has nemourous tourist attraction points throughout the country, BPC had been making a good profit for years.

Here in the chart below, you can have an idea of the net yearly profit that BPC had been making-

Fiscal Year

Net income

Net expenditure

Net Profit before tax

2008-2009

3598.60 Lakh Tk.

3792.35 Lakh Tk.

-193.75 Lakh Tk.

2009-2010

4535.88 Lakh Tk.

4512.47 Lakh Tk.

23.41 Lakh Tk.

2010-2011

5966.71 Lakh Tk.

5819.21 Lakh Tk.

107.50 Lakh Tk.

2011-2012

7127.82 Lakh Tk.

6836.62 Lakh Tk.

291.20 Lakh Tk.

2012-2013

7168.33 Lakh Tk.

6556.00 Lakh Tk.

612.33 Lakh Tk.

How to Get Around as a Tourist in Bangladesh

As it’s been a third world country under development, traveling across the country had not been so smooth yet. Hence, you need to do some homework on finding the smoothest possible way to travel, if you want to explore the tourist’s spots in Bangladesh.

However, you can take three ways of local travel- By plane, By bus, and By train. Here is a short brief on each of them-

Air Travel:
Air travel is super easy and affordable way to explore around the world. Between the cities, the flights can take around 1 hour or so. Ad there are airports in almost every major division. So, if you don’t want to waste time in traveling, air transport is the best way around.

Bus Travel:
Instead of fast and pricey air travel, if you want to explore the country’s landscape, the best to way to travel is a bus. Although local buses are generally crowded, there are some exclusive bus services reserved for tourists. Exploring the roadside beauty of the country from the window of a luxurious air-conditioned deluxe can be another attraction of visiting Bangladesh.

Train Travel:
A safer and more pleasant alternative to bus travel is train travel. Since the British Reign, the country had been rich with railway tracks and stations. So, you can explore the countryside yourself by traveling on a train. Nearly every major city has its own railway station.

Bottom Line

Have you ever visited Bangladesh? If you do, you must agree that the amount of beauty nature has gifted the country, is really a lot for such a small country. However, give a thumb up if you’ve liked our list of tourist’s attraction points. Continuous progress process had been adopted by the Government of the country. Soon, the standards of all of these sports are going to be more world famous, hopefully.